Longing For Company
by BellatrixLestrangey
Summary: Quick one shot about a human Cassidy meeting a sea nymph Nerissa, who hasn't had guests in years.


The sun filtered through the tress—through a cover of leaves, it cast an otherworldly green haze. A light mist dusted the forest floor, tickling the moss in a most flattering way. Cassidy walked across it, snapping pictures with her camera. She had never explored this leg of the woods before, the new sights were simplicity exhilarating. The leaves shifted with the breeze, allowing sunlight to glint off of something on the ground. Cassidy bent down and picked it up; it was a small rock with pinches of quartz glittering deep within—only visible due to years of erosion. She slipped it into her pocket and searched the ground for more of them. She slipped a few plain rocks into her pocket to crack open later.

She carried on down the path, pausing to run her hand over a rough, gnarled tree. She smiled to herself, this was the stuff fantasy was made of. The kind of things she could find in her book of fairy tales—the ones that her parents insisted she was too old for. She snapped another picture and walked onwards.

Before her expanded a large and churning natural pond, of a crystalline color. She watched dragonflies bounce between clusters of sweet flag and puzzlegrass. A swallow crooned off in the distance, to be answered by a call from a bird Cassidy couldn't identify. She sat down on a large rock near where the water met the mud and stared until she slipped into a day dream. For the longest time, she remained in her own little world—where the fish came out of the pond and shed their scales only to grow new ones of a different color. She came out of her world to find that the sun was beginning to wane. She had roused by a splashing in the water. For a moment, she was certain that she was going to actually see a fish shed its scales. At first, she saw nothing. With a sigh Cassidy took a sip from her water bottle, stood up, and stretched. She knew that she ought to get home.

She stole one last look at the body of water. She very nearly missed her again; the woman swimming in the shallows where seaweed clumps swirled around cattails. The woman cocked her head, sending a ripple through the water. Her long black hair bobbed with the ripples, fanning out around her body among water lily and agley. She didn't seem to notice nor care about the sea debris that tangled themselves in her thick tresses. Cassidy paused intrigued and intimidated all at once. She tried to speak but found herself lacking words.

The woman stood, revealing a tall, pale, and slender figure. Her hair cascaded down her back and over her shoulders, clinging to and contrasting against her skin. She extended an arm that Cassidy wasn't sure if she should take. But she did so anyhow and helped the woman out of the water.

"Who are you?" She asked at last, her voice as sparkling and flowing as the water she'd come from. The sun washed her skin in hues of gold. Caught in its light the woman's skin seemed to delicately shimmer. _A sea nymph,_ Cassidy mused. The picked a lily petal out of her hair, lazily flicked it into the pond, and repeated her question.

Cassidy blushed under observance of the woman's sapphire eyes. "My name is Cassidy." She mustered. "I'm not bothering you, am I? I just moved here a few months ago and I've been trying to explore the forest…"

The woman considered the question. "I'm not bothered, no. Yet, I don't particularly get many visitors. Not that I want many."

"I can't imagine that you would, this place is very…quiet." Cassidy replied. "I guess that's why I like it."

The woman nodded. "Yes, that's why I choose this pond."

"You guys—nymphs, I mean—can choose your ponds?"

"We can." She replied. "But most of us choose not to." She paused and with a shrug, added, "I choose to though." Without warning she reached out and stroked Cassidy's cheek. "It's been so long since I've seen someone like you."

Cassidy found her face flushing all over again. She took the woman's wrist in her hand. "You never told me who you are."

The woman blinked, as if the question was a strange one. Perhaps she'd never been asked before. At last she answered, "you can call me Nerissa." A soft smile tugged at her lips. She let her hand fall and turned her back to Cassidy. She slid herself back into the pond and motioned for Cassidy to follow.

"I can't. Not right now." She motioned to her clothes.

Nerissa folded her arms atop the nearest rock. "That's never a problem for me." She lifted a hand to make a flippant wave.

"Clearly." Cassidy remarked, noting—not for the first time—Nerissa's lack of clothing. She watched the woman arch back to wet her head. She let her hair fall back between her shoulder blades.

"Are you sure you don't want to join me?" Nerissa asked. "I haven't had company in quite some time."

Cassidy found herself locked within her alluring gaze again. She looked up at the sun. Though the sky was awash in vibrant oranges and brilliant pinks, the sun was still pretty high. "I suppose that it couldn't hurt." Cassidy shrugged her mini-jacket off and then her shirt. Still clade in an undershirt and her shorts she moved closer to the water's edge.

Nerissa cupped Cassidy's chin, stroking her cheek. There was something that she liked about the red head. Normally she would have either scared her guests off or wouldn't have revealed herself at all. But this girl was different somehow. Perhaps it was her curiosity. Perhaps it was her gentle demeanor. Whatever it was, for the first time in ages, Nerissa found herself not wanting to be alone and longing for closeness.

She leaned forward and dared to brush her lips against Cassidy's ear.

She expected her to flinch away or offer a word of disproval. Instead she slide into the water next to Nerissa and wrapped her arms around her.

Nerissa closed her eyes, feeling the girl nuzzle against her. It has been so long since anyone had been that close. She wondered if Cassidy was lonely too, you'd have to be lonely to get this near a perfect stranger.

Whatever the reason, Nerissa was glad for her caress. She hugged her closer, and hoped with everything she had, that when she let Cassidy go, she'd come back.


End file.
